Saddam defiant but resigned to captivity

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, December 22, 2003

Saddam defiant but resigned to captivity

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In his first hours of captivity, Saddam Hussein appeared to be in good physical condition but was mentally drained and seemed resigned to his fate, officials who met him say in an interview to be broadcast on Sunday (local time).

Paul Bremer, the US civilian administrator for Iraq, and Mouwafak Al-Rabii, a Shi'ite member of the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, told the CBS television programme "60 Minutes" that Saddam was at times irritable and defiant as they met him in his jail cell this week.

"He looked to me like a man who had lost hope. You could see it in his eyes," Bremer said. "He was tired obviously but beyond that, underneath, you could see resignation."

Bremer said Saddam apparently did not know him.

Al-Rabii, a human rights activist who was imprisoned by Saddam, said he questioned the toppled Iraqi leader about the thousands of people killed by his regime and the use of poison gas against Kurdish civilians in northern Iraq in 1988.

"He felt absolutely no remorse towards the crimes he has committed against the Iraqi people," al-Rabii said.

Saddam used foul language and tried to avoid making eye contact with his visitors, he said.

In other interviews earlier this week, Al-Rabii said Saddam was sitting on a bed in a white gown and dark jacket as he and three other members of the Governing Council visited.

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